Spraying Rear View Mirror

[Lenny]

Here's a guide on removing and spraying your rear view mirror,

This Guide is now Available in Downloadable PDF Format, which can be Printed to Paper to better assist you with the Modification

Guide Color Coding Rear View Mirror.pdf

The equipment needed was all purchased in my local Halfords store,

Harris Masking Tape 25mmx25m €3.99

Halfords Enamel Gray Primer €9.49

Halfords Ford Moondust Silver € 8.49

Halfords Enamel Clear Lacquer €9.49

Halfords Paint Preparation Wipes €5.68

3M SandBlaster Extra Fine P400 Flexible Pads € 8.49

Total Cost €45.63

Sitting in the driver's seat hold the stalk of the mirror and gently push the mirror unit up towards the ceiling, it should slide out of the steel bracket that is mounted to the windscreen,

Using a small Philips screwdriver remove the screw from the mirror, if fragments of metal are found while removing the screw don't worry this seems to be normal as the tapping of the aluminium part (mounted in the mirror) would have left fragments inside,

Once removed find a container to hold the stalk, screw and screwdriver as the process will take around 24hours to complete and the last thing you want is to lose a part, i used an old plastic bottle to safely store the items.

When I began to mask up the area I didn't want to paint a noticed imperfections in the mould where the rubber lip is joined to the plastic around the lip of the mirror, as can be seen in the picture below, I smoothed these off prior to masking around the lip and glass.

[Lenny]

After a light sanding to roughen up the surface you want to paint, wipe down the surface with metaliated spirits or specific wipes to remove any dust or fragments prior to painting,

Once wiped down don’t forget the number one rule that’s always cover your hole, I nearly forgot to cover the part that joins to the bracket, last thing you want is to get any paint or debris in to it as refitting the screw would be a nightmare.

Following the instructions on the can of primer, shake the can for at least 3 minutes prior to use, also take care in choosing the location to spray your mirror ensuring the area is clear of any item you don’t want to get paint on, as everything around will get a blanket of paint on it even your cloths so wise to cover anything with plastic bags or remove altogether,

Also the paint should be at the same temperature as the area you’re going to spray it in ideally +20oc not damp or very dusty as the dust in the air will mix with the paint being sprayed and fall on to it,

After coating with primer, leave it to dry for at least 4 hours then give it another light sand this time with one wet piece of sanding pad dampened with water and one dry piece, leave it for another hour to dry then wipe down again with paint preparation wipes, once dry commence the first coat of Car coloured paint also shaking the can for at least 3minutes prior to use.

[Lenny]

After applying first coat of Car coloured paint, leave it to dry then another light sand with dry pad followed by preparation wipe and another coat of paint, then a second coat,

Again leaving it to dry light sand, preparation wipe then moving on to the finishing stage of lacquer coat’s

The following picture is after one coat, i didn’t sand between the coats of lacquer as it didn’t specify to do so, and also i was afraid it may affect the outcome of the finish, 2 coats of lacquer is sufficient to smooth the finish but i gave mine 4 just to give it a nice shine,

Two Coats of Lacquer

Four Coats of Lacquer

After coating and leaving it around 3 hours too dry gently remove the masking tape from the mirror take care when doing this as the paint although dry is still very brittle and prone to lifting or chipping at this point, leaving the tape on too ling will leave it harder to remove also, the paint will take up to 7 days to cure completely so may be wise to keep air fresheners off the mirror for a week after spraying, and if you wear rings be careful when adjusting the mirror,

[Lenny]

It's now fitted and looking through the windscreen it seems slightly darker than the rest of the car’s colour but this is due to the tint in the window, once seen inside the car it’s a perfect match,

[Lenny]

[Lenny]

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[R-head]

Nice one Lenny!! B) nice guide, hope others appreciate the effort you put in doing that

I managed to do mine a bit cheaper, I was lucky and had some primer laying around and didn't lacquer, just frozen white on the primer. For others considering doing this the lettering/markings on the rear of the mirror are easily removable, I used a stanley blade to skim them off and then before applying the primer gave everything a good rub down with fine grade wet & dry. This gets rid of and small imperfections like the moulding lines on the plastic, gives a good surface for the primer to adhere to and I guess cleans things up well.

[Lenny]

For others considering doing this the lettering/markings on the rear of the mirror are easily removable, I used a stanley blade to skim them off and then before applying the primer

wish i had done that

[Lenny]

I’ve updated the first Post of this Guide the Guide to Include a DownloadPDF File of the Guide.

Figured this would be useful to others being able to print out the Guide andrefer to it during the Modification Process.B)

[Preee]

Nice one Lenny Well done on the guide m8 and PDF will help many

[Lenny]

I've edit this guide thismorning to transfer all images from the image host Photobucket over to the forum,

This means the images will now display forever without me having to pay a monthly fee to Photobucket.

The forum didn't host images back when I created the guides.

I plan to transfer all images in each of my guide's as I get the time across the coming weeks. 👍